University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Afrikaans and Dutch.

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2010-02-18T15:00:13Z

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2010-08-13T15:00:37Z

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2010-02-18T15:00:13Z

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dc.date.available

2010-08-13T15:00:37Z

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2010-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4248

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Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.

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ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the representation of the female subject in Marlene van Niekerk’s
novel, Agaat (2004). The female subjects, Milla and Agaat, are the focus of this study.
Both women are subjected to drastic situations, which not only influence their
relationship, but also their respective identities. This turn of events lead up to a power
struggle between Milla and Agaat, which eventually gets reversed throughout the course
of the narrative. The focus is essentially on the complex structure of the novel, where a
prologue and epilogue serve as a framework for the four different story lines, each with
its own narrative technique.
A number of theoretical approaches will be employed in order to explore the discussion
of the female subject. The novel, which is presented throughout by a single narrator,
leads the study to concepts such as representation, subjectivity and identity. In an attempt
to understand “the other”, the central role of language and mirrors with regard to
representation is explored. Van Niekerk’s reinvention and even subversion of the farm
novel of the late twentieth century involves ideologies of the Afrikaner such as land and
religion, gender, politics and culture. This strategy results in the focus on concepts like
subjectivity and identity. Both these processes will be explored in an attempt to gain
insight into the characters.
Key elements such as displacement, substitution and revenge give momentum to the
chain of events in the story and lead up to introspection by both women. It is especially
Milla’s terminal illness that induces introspection and preparation, for both Milla and
Agaat, towards death. The influence of all these events, Milla and Agaat’s mutual
dependence on each other, as well as the way in which they position themselves in the
face of death, prompt this study. This study explores the influence of these events on
women, the power struggle that developed out of this and the way in which their
respective roles are reversed.